The present invention relates generally to a crushing device. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing a pill crushing device for crushing medicines that are supplied in the form of pills, tablets, etc.
Many medicines and nutrients are provided in pill form. Unfortunately, many patients have difficulty in swallowing a pill. This is especially true in youth or geriatric environments. Likewise, comatose or physically impaired patients are not able to swallow the pills. Typically, a health practitioner such as a nurse must crush or pulverize the pill. Commonly, the nurse must place the pill in a mortar and must repeatedly beat the pill with a hammer to crush the pill. This technique has many drawbacks. The pill is crushed in the mortar into a powder and must be transferred to another container before being administered to the patient. Even with extreme care, some powder is left on the mortar, so that the patient does not receive a full dose. There is also unavoidable cross-contamination as the same mortar is reused for other patients. The powder may also be placed in the container that has an incorrect patient name, so that the wrong patient may receive the crushed medication. The technique is also time consuming using valuable and costly nurse time. During pounding, some of the fine powder becomes airborne and the nurse may inhale or come in contact with a variety of toxic compounds. Additionally, the nurse may receive physical injury to various body parts (e.g., arms, hands, tendons, etc.) due to the repeated pounding inflicted upon the body parts.
The present invention provides a pill crushing device that automatically pulverizes the pill within a sealed bag. The pill(s) are dropped into a top opening in the pill crushing device, sealed in the sealed package, crushed, and delivered through an exit opening to a practitioner such as a nurse.